Holy Spider

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Holy Spider

Released Oct 28, 2022

1h 56m

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

140 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

In HOLY SPIDER, we follow family man Saeed as he embarks on his own religious quest -- to "cleanse" the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission.

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Critics Consensus

Holy Spider foregoes subtlety in favor of a viscerally outraged dramatization inspired by appalling actual events.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

It’s a tense, atmospheric piece of film-making but it made me profoundly uncomfortable – and not, I should add, in a good way.

Rated: 2/5

Jan 22, 2023

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

An intensely stylish and appropriately troubling film, with stomach-churning murders and a pacy first half that’s reminiscent of David Fincher’s Zodiac.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 20, 2023

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Danny Leigh

Financial Times

The film is an Iranian social history that looks, at first, like a serial killer movie... it is both.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 19, 2023

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Daniel Allen

Loud and Clear Reviews

Aided by its two lead performances, Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider is a brutal, chilling thriller that is full of righteous anger at Iran’s system of misogyny.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 25, 2024

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

The most disturbing part of Ali Abassi’s Holy Spider is not the grisly subject matter, nor the blunt and unpleasant depictions of several murders, but the mere fact that it is all based on a true story.

Rated: 7/10

Mar 20, 2024

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Nicolás Medina

Montevideo Portal / Latido Beat

Holy Spider is more valuable for what it says than how it says it and will undoubtedly be one of those films that will divide audiences. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/10

Dec 19, 2023

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Omid

Excellent cinematography, acting. I was impressed by how they depicted the city of Mashhad in Iran in the early 2000s, so accurately

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/10/22

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RP

This is a brilliant movie not just because it is highly entertaining. It is brilliant because of being a realistic depiction of what has actually been going on. It tells the truth! It IS the naked truth!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/14/22

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Azin

Outstanding acting and performance.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/07/22

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Farah R

I saw this film by chance, and it was a pleasant surprise. Holy Spider is tense and uncomfortable to watch as it aptly uses its fact-based source material to create a bone-chilling thriller. The cast was phenomenal as every actor convincingly played their role and made it effortless to connect with their characters. Not every day a foreign film captivates me, but this one's truly well-made.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/04/24

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Jonah K

doesn’t do a whole lot to differentiate itself from the usual serial killer thriller. regarding the onscreen violence, i’m not really sure where i stand. for the most part, within the visual medium of film, people would rather be shown than told. however, it does seem that there are certain realities that this doesn’t apply to. are these scenes made for the entertainment of the sociopath or for the depiction of the truth? it’s a delicate balance that this film isn’t able to achieve.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/31/24

Full Review

Luis M. D

Although it has all the ingredients of a standard police thriller, what emerged in the end was certainly shocking and escaped the limits of conventionality. The particular cultural setting in which the story unfolds makes the movie even more rewarding to watch.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/04/24

Full Review

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Ali Abbasi

Director

Zar Amir-Ebrahimi

Rahimi

Mehdi Bajestani

Saeed

Arash Ashtiani

Sharifi

Forouzan Jamshidnejad

Fatima

Sina Parvaneh

Rostami

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Synopsis

In HOLY SPIDER, we follow family man Saeed as he embarks on his own religious quest -- to "cleanse" the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission.

Director: Ali Abbasi
Producer: Sol Bondy, Jacob Jarek
Screenwriter: Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Distributor: Utopia
Production Co: Wild Bunch International, One Two Films, Why Not Productions, Profile Pictures
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Persian
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 28, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 21, 2023
Runtime: 1h 56m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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